What Happened? Up For Adoption
by SmileCauseItsWorthIt
Summary: Pony and Johnny stopped by the Cade house to get a football when everything went wrong. Mr. Cade hurts Pony, badly. Will he make it through? Or will he be scarred for life? Will they ever figure out exactly what happened? Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Nothing better to do! I got this idea a long time ago, but just recently wrote it. I have to warn you, it's pretty dark for me. This takes place pre-book; before Johnny gets beat up, so he talks some more, but after Mr. and Mrs. Curtis die. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, settings, the plot, etc. Those all belong to S.E. Hinton. I just have fun with her creativity!**

(Ponyboy POV)

Johnny and I were getting ready to leave the DX and go to the lot to throw the football around. It had been raining for the past week and today was the first sunny day. We intended to make the most of it.

"Hey Soda, Johnny and I are leaving," I called out.

"Okay, see you at home," Soda called from the back. Johnny and I left the gas station and headed for the lot. About halfway there, I got to thinking.

"Hey Johnny, do you know where we left the football?" I said. We never left it in the same place.

"Aw man, it's at my house. We had left it at the lot a while ago and I had brought it home with me. Sorry Pony," he said.

"It's okay, let's just stop by you place and get it," I said.

"I don't know, my old man might be home," he said

"If we just run in and out, what could happen?"

"If you're sure," he sighed. When we got to his house, everything appeared to be quiet. To be safe, we both went in. We were as quiet as we could be. Then I stepped on a squeaky board. It echoed in the silent house. I jumped back and we both cringed when I bumped into a table. Nothing fell, but it was loud.

"THAT YOU BOY?!" Johnny's father- if you could even call him that- yelled. I signaled for Johnny to be quiet and get out of there as fast as possible. I shoved him towards the door when Mr. Cade came out from the kitchen with a beer bottle in his hand. We froze in our place. It was as if we thought if we didn't move he couldn't see us. I could feel myself pale and when I stole a glance at Johnny, I saw that he had too. "WELL ANSWER ME?"

"Yes sir," Johnny said in a small voice. _Oh no,_ I thought,_ now I have to witness a beating._ Mr. Cade punched Johnny. Then he looked towards me. _Uh oh! _He looked back towards Johnny and screamed:

"WHO THE HELL IS THAT?" Johnny's eyes went wide and he stayed silent. "WELL?"

I knew Johnny wouldn't answer, but I couldn't let Johnny get hurt because of me. So I said, "I'm one of Johnny's friends."

Oh great, I sounded like a weak and scared little kid. Mr. Cade lowered his voice, but he still was scaring the crap out of me. Especially with what he said and did in our next… conversation.

"Jonathan has no friends. He is a useless piece of shit. Worthless," he said. I felt my heart drop at that comment. How could someone ever say that? I had no reply, I was shocked beyond words. I closed my mouth once I regained some composure. I could not- would not- let anyone talk about Johnny like that.

"Of course he has friends," I whispered. "A lot, in fact."

"DON'T YOU TALK BACK TO ME!" he screamed, he seems to do that a lot. "Didn't your parents teach you how to respect before those brain-washed, happy freaks kicked the can?"

I was appalled. No insult ever hit me that deep. I still wasn't quite over my parents' deaths, and that comment was below that belt. I felt my face get hot and the tears well up in my eyes. I had nothing to say back, I was too stunned.

"I asked you a question!"

Then he did something that I could have never anticipated. He hit me below the belt, literally. While my wind was out of me, he kicked me in the ribs. I fell to the ground. I looked up when the next blow didn't come. I saw Johnny clinging to Mr. Cade's back. If you didn't know any better, it would've looked like Mr. Cade was giving him a piggy-back ride. I would've laughed had the situation not been so serious. Mr. Cade reached back, grabbed Johnny by the neck and threw him out the open door. I whimpered. My only chance of salvation had just flown out the door.

Mr. Cade came back to me. He picked his beer bottle up from where he had rested it when he had walked in the room. I was still on the floor, I hadn't thought to move. Mr. Cade walked over to me, took a swig of beer, and then dropped the bottle on my head. The glass bottle shattered and I could feel the pieces imbed themselves in my skin. I cried out in pain. This seemed to encourage him. For the next- well it felt like an eternity- was filled with punches, kicks, and foul names been directed towards me. The last thing I remember before a strong blow to the head that resulted in darkness was Johnny bursting through the door with Darry in toe.

**Okay I may have been happy starting this, but writing for Mr. Cade… it was depressing. I feel awful if someone said those things about **_**anyone**_**, much less Johnny. It was sooo hard to do. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, would I really be here? I own no characters, plot, settings, etc.**

I had just gotten out of my truck after a long day of roofing and really wanted to take a long shower. Then I saw Johnny running up. He looked panicked, something must be wrong. He came up to me and was out of breath he stuttered and panted:

"Darry…Pony…my dad… football…" he finally realized that this was making no sense to me so he said "Just c'mon!"

He started sprinting back the direction he came, the direction of his house. I tried to piece together what he said as we ran. Something about Pony and Mr. Cade. And a football. Ponyboy and Mr. Cade were playing football? No, that can't be right…

We ran up the steps of Johnny's house and inside. I walked in just in time to see Mr. Cade kick pony in the head before my youngest brother went limp. Without thinking, I ran over to Mr. Cade. He reeked of stale beer. A red have filled my mind. How dare he hurt my brother! I picked him up, reached my other arm back, and hit him harder than I've ever hit anything in my life. He flew back five feet and into the wall behind him. Mr. Cade slumped to the floor. I wasn't sure if it was because of my hit or the alcohol, and frankly I didn't care. I had to make sure Pony was alright. With that, I knelt down next to my baby brother.

The first thing I did was check for a pulse, it was quick, but the_ event_ that had just occurred probably excited him. Ponyboy had cuts and bruises everywhere. It looked like he had just gotten jumped. I looked at his face; it was scratched up and had tiny pieces of brown glass imbedded in the skin. _A beer bottle! He broke a damn beer bottle of his head!!_ I though angrily. I didn't dare look at Mr. Cade, for if I did, I wouldn't be able to contain myself. I looked at the spot where I saw him get kicked. It was slightly bleeding. I felt myself tense up at this, who knew how bad this could end up now. I lifted up his shirt slightly; there were definitely some broken ribs. He would need to go to the hospital for a further examination. I thought about if we would be able to afford that, then thought better of it. Pony's health came first.

I picked Ponyboy up-mindful of his injuries- and carefully brought him to our house. I had left the truck there. As I lay him down in the back seat, I saw the blood on his hair; the wound was still steadily bleeding. _Shit, _I thought. _Should I not have moved him? _ It was too late for that now. I motioned for Johnny to get in the passenger seat as I got into the driver's. I took a closer look at Johnny. He looked pale and was shaking. He also had a black eye. I guess he was just shocked and scared, just like me. I kept my face clear of emotion, but said sympathetically "He'll be fine, Johnny. Don't worry."

Who was I kidding, now that I had time to think, worrying was all I could do.

"I know. Um… Darry? We're still in the driveway," he whispered.

"Oh, right," I said. I felt my face get hot. I don't think Johnny would tell anyone, but still… I pulled out of the driveway and we made our way to the hospital. I just hoped nothing went wrong.

**I actually hadn't planned very far in this. Your reviews help make up the story. So review on what you think. (Although now, I know where this story is headed.)**

**P.S. Do you guys like violence? I got a lot of reviews telling me to have Darry kick Mr. Cade's head in. **


	3. Author's Note

**A/N I'm seriously unsure if I will ever finish these stories. I hope to one day, but there's absolutely no guarantee. If one of you fabulous people wants to take one over, message me and I'll tell you my general plan. Of course, I'll preview your previous works to be sure that these are going to a good home. So these are up for adoption. I may eventually compile them all into a series of cliffhanger-y one-shots.**

**I'm so sorry for being absent for so long and neglecting these stories. Life got hectic and I had to change some, but that's no excuse. My writing style has completely changed and this really isn't me anymore. I promised myself that when I first started I would **_**never**_** do anything like this, but I feel like it's my only viable option now. I will never do this again though. I hope you can forgive me for all of this. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.**


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